


Plush Slugs

by SmileAndASong



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Phone Calls & Telephones, Steve Rogers-centric, Steve is scared of plush toys, Stuffed Toys, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tsum-Tsum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 10:03:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6952159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmileAndASong/pseuds/SmileAndASong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before leaving for his next business trip, Tony gives Steve strange plush toys of Captain America and Iron Man to keep him company.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Plush Slugs

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you unfamiliar with Tsum-Tsum plush, this is what the look like: [Captain America Tsum-Tsum](http://cdn.s7.disneystore.com/is/image/DisneyShopping/1234041282442?%24yetidetail%24)  
> and [Iron Man Tsum-Tsum](http://cdn.s7.disneystore.com/is/image/DisneyShopping/1234041282443?%24yetidetail%24)  
> Marvel is releasing special stories in the comics over the summer featuring the tsum-tsums as well!
> 
> I may or may not be a tsum-tsum addict, I may or may not have the Cap and Iron Man ones that I adore. I may or may not work in a place that sells these. I may or may not strategically place the Cap and Iron Man ones together when stocking.  
> This fic is also not set in any specified universe, I kept it all pretty vague since it's pretty short and just meant to be cute and fluffy! Either way, I hope you enjoy!

“Tony...what the hell is that thing?”

Steve stared in confusion at the bed. In a shocking turn of events, Tony surprised him and actually made the bed. He had shooed Steve out of the bedroom while he did it. At the time, Steve thought it was strange, but he did not dwell too much on it. But now he understood why Tony did it. So he could set it in place, the /thing/. And the /thing/ just kept on staring at him. It was right in the center of the bed, captivating onto Steve’s attention and not letting it go. Steve had no idea how uncomfortable a plush toy could make him.

It was easily one of the strangest things that he had seen in awhile. And this was Steve Rogers - the man out of time who fought aliens and other freaks on the daily. The fact that a plush toy was strange to him really said something. It was a plush toy shaped like a round little blob. It had tiny little feet that stuck out on the sides, a line for a mouth, and big circular light blue eyes. It looked expressionless and soulless, hence why Steve was somewhat creeped out by the strange blob plush. Maybe blob wasn’t the right way of describing it. It actually looked sort like a small slug, or an incredibly fat hamster. On top of that incredibly strange description, it technically was supposed to be Tony. The small slug-like creature had red and gold detailing pattern that mimicked the Iron Man suit. Steve would say this much, the craftsmanship on it was pretty impressive since Iron Man’s suit was not exactly something that was easy to recreate as a plus slug creature. 

Steve briefly locked eyes with the plush. He stared into the stitched on blue orbs before he immediately looked away from it, a feeling of discomfort overtaking him. It was just so...soulless looking. Tony reappeared in the room from the closet, throwing a few pairs of shoes in the suitcase that was on his bed.

“Cute, isn’t he? I got it when I was on that conference in Tokyo last week. I thought it would be a good present to give you before I went away again.” Tony said with a small smile. “They’re really popular in Japan, Disney makes them and they have a whole bunch of characters - even us.”

“This is what is popular in Japan right now?” Steve said as he lifted the small plush - the tsum tsum, off of the bed to examine it. As he turned it over on its side, he noticed that it had an arc reactor on the lower side. Okay. Maybe this thing was a little cuter than he was giving it credit for. Still lost points for the soulless eyes though.

“Uh-huh. I went to the Disney Store and they literally had thousands of them! In all different sizes too. I wanted to get you the really big Iron Man one, but then I would have had to lug him all around Tokyo.” Tony said as he folded some more of his shirts in the suitcase.

“Wow, lugging around a plush. If only you were a superhero and were used to using your muscle power.” Steve retorted back with a small smirk.

“Hey, not saying I’m weak, but my super muscle power comes from the armor. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to be lugging that around Tokyo. It would slow down all of my prime souvenir shopping time!” Tony exclaimed with a chuckle.

“Well, we certainly wouldn’t want that.” Steve moved the Iron Man plush in his hands a few times to examine it. “So, you said they had a bunch of different Disney characters besides you, right? Did they have the rest of the tea-”

Before Steve could finish that thought, another one of the tsum tsums was shoved in his face. This one...this one was a bit more painful to look at. It was clad in a blue mask with a large ‘A’ across it, had tiny little red feet on the side of its chubby body, and a big shield across its back. Evidently, they made Captain America tsum tsums too. Steve wondered briefly if he had any right to sue Disney for this, but he had no idea how the legal system worked so that thought was quickly dismissed. However, Steve’s interest in visiting a Disney Store ever again was slowly declining (And he loved Snow White, too!), the more that he stared into the soulless eyes of the chubby slug creatures. “Oh my god, they didn’t…” Steve said as he took the Captain America one from Tony. “Look at him, look at how short and chubby those arms are. How is he even supposed to get the shield off his back? This is not the guy you want defending your city, I’m sorry.” Steve tossed the plush back to Tony.

“Getting a little bit literal there, aren’t you?” Tony shook his head before he put the Captain America one back in his suitcase. “Besides, I don’t think these guys would even need to take out shields or repulsor blasters. They would just stun the bad guys with their cuteness.”

“I’m still not seeing the cute factor here - they just look like weird and fat slugs to me.” Steve murmured as he still had the Iron Man one sitting on his lap. “Why did you think now was the good time to give it to me anyway?”

“Well. Because as you know, I’m going to Shanghai to discuss licensing out some of my new clean energy factory models with one of the major corporations there. And as much as I would love to be home in time for pizza tonight with you, that’s not gonna happen. I’ll be away for at least two days.” Tony began. “So, I thought that little Iron Man could keep you company while I’m away! That way you’ll have a Tony with you for cuddling, kissing, and all of that cute stuff. Just don’t have /too/ much fun with him, big guy. I don’t know if certain stains can come out of his fabric.”

Steve tossed the Iron Man tsum-tsum at Tony’s head. “You’re disgusting, ew.” He began. “And...I’m not sure if this is going to remind me of you in the best way, Tony. Because last I checked, you’re not a slug with stubs for legs." Steve glanced into the other’s suitcase for a moment and just noticed the Captain America one was in there. “Are you really taking that with you on a super important business trip, Tony?”

“Duh. I need to get my Cap fix. Because, unlike you. I actually think they are very cute. And I think of you when I see him.” Tony said as he picked up the Iron Man one and handed it back to Steve. “I expect you to send me cute selfies with it. And when I Facetime you before bed, I wanna see you cuddling with it.”

“You know if the rest of the team finds out what we are doing with these things they’ll never let us live it down, right?” Steve asked the other.

“Well, then they are going to be really disappointed with what I got them all for Christmas.” Tony said as he smiled. "Could only find a Hawkeye one in the little size though, guess he's not quite as cute as the rest of us." "That's going to piss him off so much." Steve said with a shake of his head. "Well, we all can't be quite as cute as you and me." Tony decided proudly as he leaned over to peck the other on the lips softly. After he did that, he picked up the Captain America tsum tsum from his back and kissed that on his nonexistent mouth.

“I’m not kissing the Iron Man one.” Steve warned the other preemptively.

“Please? You don’t have to kiss it now, but that would be cutest picture ever if you did that. And it would totally be my lock screen forever.” Tony insisted as he zipped up his suitcase, seemingly done with his packing.

“Fine, maybe. And I said /maybe/, as in...well, maybe.” Steve mumbled stubbornly. Tony quickly quelled the pout that soon formed on the other’s lips with a sweet kiss. This one was longer and lingered a bit. Steve was pretty swept up in the kiss that he didn’t even notice when Tony reached into his lap to grab the Iron Man plush toy from him. In the blink of an eye, Tony removed his lips from Steve’s and replaced them with the ‘face’ of the tsum-tsum. Steve didn’t realize what happened at first until he opened his eyes and saw those soulless blue stitchings. He pulled back and glared up at Tony, who was laughing hysterically.

“Isn’t it time for you to go to China?”

 

 

“Where is it?”

“Really? That’s the first thing that you are going to ask me? It’s three in the morning here, you’re lucky I picked up at all.”

Tony and Steve were facetiming, just like Tony had said. However, Tony also requested that the tsum-tsum plush be included. Steve saw Tony lying in the bed of his hotel room, seemingly for a midday nap. Also in the frame was the Captain America tsum-tsum plush, staring at Steve again with the same lifeless eyes.

“Steve! Where is little Iron Man?” Tony complained with a stubborn pout.

“Ugh. Hang on.” Steve set his phone down and crossed the bedroom to the closet. He opened the closet door and pulled out the aforementioned plush toy. He walked back to the bed and shoved the the toy at the camera. “Ta-da. There it is.”

“You had him in the closet, didn’t you?” Tony asked, not seeming impressed.

“I told you, Tones. I can’t deal with those eyes. I was trying to sleep and he just kept /staring/ at me.” Steve complained, to which Tony only chuckled. He watched Tony though, as he got comfortable in the bed and pressed his face into the soft plush toy. Okay. Maybe they were kind of cute. So far there were only two things he found cute about them - the little arc reactor on the Iron Man one, and the fact that Tony looked really cute when he was cuddling into the Captain America one. Steve made himself comfortable in the bed and rested the side of his face against the small Iron Man plush toy, using it as a pillow. He angled the camera so Tony could see both him and the plush.

“There we go! Was that so hard?” Tony asked the other with a roll of his eyes.

“Yes, these things are terrifying and I hate them.” Steve said as he simultaneously nuzzled his face into the soft plush.

“Really? Yeah, it sure seems like you absolutely hate them.” Tony said as he mirrored Steve’s action by also further nuzzling into the soft plush of his own tsum-tsum.

“‘Mmm only cuddling it because you want me to...and because I miss you, and well...yeah, maybe it does remind me of you a little.” Steve began. “Not that you’re a slug with stub legs or anything, but it’s cute and also kind of weird. Like you.”

“Well, I’m glad you don’t think I’m a fat slug with stub legs, thanks.” Tony said simply. “You look really cute cuddling into the little Iron Man. So cute it’s tempting to just go on the jet home right now so I can cuddle with the both of you.”

“We can do that in a few days when you come back.” Steve began but was cut off by a yawn. “Don’t worry, you’ve got the little Cap guy to keep you safe. Just don’t expect him to be able to use that shield.”

Tony chuckled, before he also yawned. “You wanna call it a night for you and a day for me, baby?”

“No.” Steve admitted honestly, because he really wanted to keep talking to Tony and being able to see him. But his yawns were betraying him. “But we probably should. You’ve got plenty to do later in the day I’m sure and I...just have a lot of cuddle plans with little Iron Man, I suppose.”

Steve watched as a lazy smile formed on Tony’s lips. “Well, I don’t want to keep you from those big plans, babe. Call me or text me at a time that’s convenient for you? Don’t worry about the time zones, you know my sleep schedule is a total lost cause.”

“Believe me, I know that all too well. I’ll give you a call, don’t worry.” Steve promised the other.

“And the selfies with little Iron Man!” Tony added quickly.

Steve rolled his eyes. “And the selfies with little Iron Man, yes.” He begrudgingly agreed. It was worth it though, to see how much Tony’s smile grew at the promise of something so simple as that. 

Steve watched as Tony sat up and adjusted his tsum-tsum plush so they were face to face. He watched as Tony pressed his lips to the non-existent mouth of the plush toy before he looked back at the camera. “Goodnight Steve, I love you.”

Steve lifted the tsum-tsum plush from serving as his pillow so it was also facing him. He did the same action as Tony, kissing the plush toy on the line across his face that he assumed to be the mouth (in all fairness, the Iron Man suit didn't exactly have a mouth), before he looked back at the camera. “Have a nice nap, Tony. I love you.”

Steve saw Tony’s smile and a small wave before the call ended. He reached over to put his cell phone aside on the nightstand. Steve briefly wrestled with the blankets and sheets once again so he had them all over him properly. He tried to get comfortable and tried to resume his sleep. After a moment though, his eyes opened and he appeared to be looking for something. He searched through the sheets for a moment, before looking on the floor and seeing it there. The Iron Man tsum-tsum had fallen off the bed as he adjusted the bedding. Steve didn’t think twice before he grabbed the plush toy and brought it to his chest tightly. Sure, it wasn’t Tony. And yes, it was still pretty damn weird looking. But...it was a nice reminder of Tony. Not just of the (very slight) physical resemblance to Iron Man, of the cute little things Tony did like this for the relationship. And the comfort of knowing that when Tony was all the way across the world, looking at things as silly as this in tourist gift shops, he was thinking about him. And thinking about how he could put a smile on his face. Tony always put a smile on his face. He was so lucky to have him. 

Steve pressed one last kiss to the forehead region of the tsum-tsum plush toy. Maybe these things were kind of cute after all. But if nothing else, the person who bought it for him was especially cute and perfect. Steve was so in love, and it was so perfect.


End file.
